Two
by fugug
Summary: Duo is a professional diver, Heero is a genius tech and they live on L6. They work together on a mysterious project called Snail 2 13. They will glimpse at something that might change the world they live in and man's understanding of evolution. Still, Duo could have done without the scars. 1x2, Heero/Duo, Slash, Romance, Established relationship, Gore


Title: Two

Author: Fugug

Disclaimer: I own nothing of _Gundam trade mark_ and related products. This work is purely for entertainment purposes and no money is gained with it's publishing.

Warnings: Fluff, Romance, Oceanic, marine and diving facts from an ignorant (although I purposely played with some fact because we are in the future and everything is better and easier in the future _), Flunky math of foot, meters and depth calculations, Detailed gory injuries.

Pairing: 2x1, Heero/Duo, mentioned 3x4

_italic_ = names/ emphasis

"_italic_" = thoughts

TWO

For an old friend

(Fall 2001_edited Spring 2014)

* * *

_**C**__**aressing**_ wind; shimmering blue; flying arrows of pure white and black tip feathers; intertwining golden rings in long dark bronze strands of hair.

The young man wistfully sighed as he lifted his face to the caress of the tresses of the golden satellite's mane. A small contented smile appeared on his face. He raked long and graceful digits through his heavy hair.

*Cough*

The young man slowly turned his gaze where the sound had come from.

"Uhm, sorry could you tell me where I could find Mister," the young girl looked at the paper she held in her hand "Mister Duo Maxwell?"

His gaze darkened with sudden attention.

"I heard that he was one of the best scuba-diving instructors of L6,"continued the girl "my friends and I would like to take the free test course, we were thinking of enrolling for the coming session…"

"Really?" The young man stood up from the side of the dock where he had left his bare feet dangling in the water. He wiped his wet hands on his denim short shorts.

"I'm Duo Maxwell," He said, forwarding his hand "nice to meet you mizz…"

"Sara! Just Sara," said the blushing young lady as she shyly shook his hand.

"Well Sara, let's go into my sorry excuse for an office and discuss just what your lookin' for in the course." He said with a chuckle as he led the way.

Sara nodded shyly and followed. Momentarily forgetting about her purpose here, she indulged in the view that was _Duo Maxwell_.

She had heard a lot about the man. He was quite famous for the talent he had to work with the last unconquered element by Earthmen, water. He was one of the best in his field as he had trained in Earth's oceans which was quite unnecessary in this day and age as aquatic activities could now be safely practiced in the controlled oceans of the colonies. There were many rumors about the origins of his outstanding skills; the most far fetched being that he had ounce been a Gundam pilot in the wars five years ago. Sara was just a toddler at that time.

The most active gossips however, were about his legendary beauty. And God! Was he ever more handsome in real life than in any magazine photos. That's why she hadn't recognized him at first.

She couldn't believe she was looking at one of the most attractive man of the galaxy!

She came out of her thoughts to focus her analytic gaze on the graceful creature in front of her.

Sara watched the beautiful golden brown hair swing to Duo's each step. The braid was loose and escaped strands of hair were waving like webs of bronze in the coastal wind. The braid was long! Past the slender but cut shoulders, the slim waist and the sexy swaying hips, it stopped mid thigh. And those legs! Sara gasped. She had never seen such wonderfully shaped legs on a man, thoroughly tanned as the rest of him, wonderfully curved, silken, smooth, enough to make any women jealous including her.

Hello! How about those Oh so cute feet!

At that moment Duo shivered. Oups! Sara quickly averted her eyes before Duo could know just what she was doing. She must have looked too intensely because Duo turned to look behind her in slight discomfort.

"That's funny," he murmured to himself.

"What is?" asked Sara slightly nervous.

"Oh nothing" he said with a reassuring smile "Just prickles in my neck." He shook of the feeling of being targeted. He'd seen nothing suspicious during his fast sweep.

"Wow, he's sharp." Woops! Had she just said that out loud?

"Well have to be in the kind of job I do, people and their life depend on me."

He waited until Sara reached him and whispered in her ear. "Nan, for real I developed the skills form being stared at like a piece of raw meat by all those lovely rich ladies who pretend to want to learn how to drive a yacht… But they pay my rent, so I'm not the one complainin' here." He looked up and around suspiciously in an exaggerated manner "But sssshh! That's a secret!"

He chuckled and gave her a wink.

Duo was greatly amused by Sara. He wasn't threatened by the puppy love of a seven years old but was surprised at how precocious women estrogen could be.

They arrived at the end of the dock to a tiny shabby building. Duo smirked.

"Well, after you madam" he said with mock drama after he opened the door with flare and a bow.

She giggled as she entered.

The interior of the office was not much more glamorous but at least it was clean. There was a desk with a radio on the corner, a files cabinet pushed to the wall and beside it scuba gears. There was a big window giving to the sea with a nice window seat to sit on which lay a plush toy. He went around the desk and motioned for her to sit.

* * *

_**That**_ had been Duo's first and only meeting of the day and it went pretty uneventfully. He didn't have these kinds of students often, which was unfortunate since he enjoyed his job even more when he thought it to kids. He was even thinking of allotting a special time slot for a course catered to the tikes in safety ethics and water sports.

But that was for later, today he was in a very good mood because his afternoon promised to be high in adventure; he was impatiently waiting for the arrival the scientific group he was going to join. They were sailing to the high seas to test new electronics. It was apparently hush hush as attested the confidentiality clause he had signed six months ago. Apparently, this new gadget would revolutionize... revolutionize the field of marine biology, if he remembered correctly. It didn't really phase Duo since inventors were always overly enthusiastic about their _creation_ being the next best thing after the discovery of the wheel. He 'd been privileged to go on enough expeditions to know better now. No, what Duo really cared about was diving back into the darkness of the ocean. Sadly, other than by contract he didn't get to sail the deep sea that much. To dive there one's skills had to be good and his _ladies_ levels and interest weren't moderately close to indulge in classes too far from the shore.

With some experience he had learned to choose the right offers from the right clients and he enjoyed a lot of what he considered _vacations_ he was giving himself. On expeditions, the excitement and fulfillment he had discovering and understanding the mysteries of the sea was too fun to be considered work. The fact that he would be working with his lover had little to do with it. Shyeah right!

The grin he was wearing became even wider when he noticed the canal boat temporarily accosting the dock. Hefting his gears plus a sport bag containing his essentials and scooping the plush toy in the crook of one arm, Duo made his way on the gangway.

"Hey, Duo! How is it going my boy! "

"Pretty well Admiral."

The captain motioned to his plushie.

"Bringing Laiza with you this time?."

The _toy_ opened its eyes and mewled than went back to comatose sleep.

"Of course. Even thought Heero doesn't like her that much, I do and she's never been trouble." Duo declared defensively.

Admiral Jones laughed.

"I'm not the one complaining son. Here let my men help you with your gears," he checked his watch "we should be going, Heero is impatient to see you."

"Hah! Heero? Impatient? That's new." Declared Duo with mock innocence, as Jones was signaling to take water.

With a throaty laugh the good man slapped Duo on the back, which almost sent him sprawling on deck.

"Duo, always the kidder. Ah, it's been too long. Tonight, we eat super together." He wiggled his eyebrows "have to take advantage before you and Heero become inseparables, like barnacles stuck to a hull you two are although I also like the permanent leech mode theory."

Duo gaped.

"Where did you get an expression like that!"

"Ah, your blonde friend who is attached at the hip to the Latino cyclops of his."

Duo stumbled.

"Wha-What…!"

"We've arrived to your room. I'll be waiting for you at supper."

And the old and very respectable Admiral Jones, head of this colony's Naval Army and usually as tight assed as Rachid, went his way, leaving a completely baffled Duo.

"Okaaay... that was weird."

He entered his cabin and placed his sport bag near his gear which was already at the foot of the bunk. He let Laiza on his bed and she casually rolled to the side against the wall and tucked herself in.

"Damn, what a lazy ass you are."

He smiled and plopped himself on his bed. He stared at the ceiling dreamily.

He was going to see Heero. Two weeks of separation was way too much. Damned he missed him. He sighed. He had a couple of hours before supper and decided to indulge in an all out professional and epic daydream.

Life was good.

* * *

_**Supper**_ had been too strange for the braided young man. The captain had never been that laid back and happy for all the two years Duo had known him. He had choked on his drinks two times due to the bluntness of the seasoned seaman. Sailors were crass and rude, Duo had no doubt Admiral Jones could out curse the devil. But being in his position demanded a minimum of decorum.

He would later know that the Admiral had joined the expedition before Duo and had been all too happy to see his son after a six months separation; his son who had been promoted to the rank of Captain during that time. It was his progeny who had used those expressions when he'd commented on what he'd heard, from other sailors, about the couple and their friends.

He was to see his son that night too when they would meet with the ship that was to be Duo's home for about three weeks.

When the _Amaryllis_ came to view. Duo was a bundle of jumping beans at the prow.

"Relax, Duo. Jumping over board won't bring you faster to Heero." Cheerfully commented one of the sailors.

"I'm cool. What are you talking about?" He said breezily while still jumping. He missed the sailors' laugh as he peered at the approaching ship's silhouette and distinguished a an individual with a familiar mop of hair waiting for them on its bridge. Duo's long braid flapped up beside him with a sudden gust of wind and the silhouette waved.

"It's him! It's him! " He waved maddeningly, tipping dangerously over the border. He would have fallen if not for one of the sailor who lifted him bodily and handed him to the ones already in the blown up canoe that get them to science ship.

During the whole trip Duo's only focus was that figure. He sat opposite the sailor who had taken charge of him; the latter was doing all he could to keep him from flipping the lifeboat upside down.

Heero could feel his pulse racing just at the sight of the approaching tornado that was his husband. He still couldn't fathom how Duo had found him after the end of the war and how he could make him feel as a dumb beginner every time he saw him even after two years of marriage and much more years of knowing each other.

The canoe hadn't even fully accosted, that his arms were full of his lovely whirlwind.

"What the HMMMPFT!"

Duo was kissing him like he wanted to suck his soul out of his mouth.

"He's all yours," he heard the poor sailor he had escaped from say.

"ImissedyaImissedyaImissedyaImissedyaImissedya," were the only words coming from Duo's mouth as kisses peppered his face.

"Duo, what the… Stop that…Hey!" Heero slapped Duo's hand as it sneaked a quick grope.

The men were chuckling.

"I think you should keep that to your room, no?" declared a light voice behind Heero.

The latter attempted a turn that ended up as a painful craning of the neck and glared at the decorated man coming towards them. He was obviously the captain if the insignias on his shoulder were any indication.

He turned back and sent a fierce look at Admiral Jones Sr.

"What have you been feeding him?"

"Really now, we ate a delicious supper and had chocolate pudding for desert, I think Duo had four portions to him alone. Nothing untoward. Why do you ask?" The old man was completely calm, however if you knew were to look you could see a mischievous glint flashing through his eyes.

Heero snorted, "If you would excuse me I will go sedate this idiot."

With all the dignity he could muster Heero pulled the dead weight latched to his side to perhaps, if he was lucky, exhaust the excess energy in their cabin.

The men erupted in a roaring laugh.

Wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, Captain Jones met Admiral Jones in a crushing hug all the while still laughing.

"Boy, they're even a funnier pair than what I've heard. Thanks for the set-up Dad."

The old man snorted.

* * *

"_**Duo**_ st-stop it. Duo it's okay I'm here, I've got you. W, would you…"

Suddenly Duo became sagged and just held Heero in a tight hug, his face buried in the short bristles at Heero's nape.

Heero sighed and held him close waiting patiently for Duo to feel secure enough to let go.

Since Duo had found him they had always made sure not to be away from each other for too long. The Japanese' last contract had forced him to break that routine.

Two weeks was pretty long for them both, Duo was just more expressive about it.

The American finally lifted his head to look into his companion's indigo orbs. His own baby blues were suspiciously bright. He sighed and touched his forehead to Heero's.

"I'm sorry, it's just that when I saw you…I mean I was fine during those two weeks really," he laughed, "Now you think I'm some kinda love sick school girl." He whispered chuckling.

"Idiot…" Heero pecked his up-turned nose. "I missed you too."

Duo laughed and went to sit on the bed. Folding his legs underneath him, he leaned his chin in his hand.

Heero sat at his desk and rolled his chair closer to the bed.

"So what's this expedition all about?" Duo asked with a smirk.

* * *

"_**We**_'ve devised an experimental scanner for the purpose of detecting specific and unusual life-forms. During the next days we're going to test its capacities with props and probs. I'm accompanying the team because I created the program and will be working on calibrations."

The whole research team, the captain and Duo were present. They had arrived to the first test grounds. Anchored near Trench Herald, a basin in the ocean about 60000feet at the deepest hence the perfect place for the experiment- of course, a man made colony had to surpass nature's Mariana trench that was _only_ bout 40000 feet. They were now briefing each other on the procedures that they would follow tomorrow; officially the first day of the experiments, and rehashing their roles, ranks and purpose in the team.

Duo raised his hand. Heero nodded for him to speak.

"Okay, I was goin' to ask why you needed a device to detect life-forms. That kinda machinery's been there since gods knows when. But then I have a more specific question. Which is, what new life form? And why on L6?"

Heero smirked. Duo was oozing curiosity and with the questions he'd just asked, he knew that his lover had already come to a conclusion that the others, outside of the researchers, hadn't even envisioned. Duo was going to like what was coming.

* * *

"_**Okay**_ let's lower her. Gently, gently guys."

"Heero, what's the name of that thing again?"

"_Snail 2 13._"

Duo giggled.

Heero looked at him crossly.

"You're going to ask me that same question how many times still?"

"As long as it makes me laugh, babe," declared Duo shamelessly.

Heero turned Duo so that he faced his back and zipped the wetsuit closed. He then strapped the oxygen on his back.

"Comfortable?"

"Yep."

Duo turned to look at the progression of _Snail 2 13_, which had been lowered while Heero helped him prepare. It was now approaching the center of the trench at a leisurely pace. It was followed by three techs on a sailboat.

"For today, you're just going to follow_ Snail_ down to 30 meters deep. Then you open the chamber and lower the sensors. Standby while we introduce the first two props then you surface, okay?"

"I know, I know, I was there for the briefing. Don't worry it'll be standard procedure."

"Duo we're ready to sail." Called one of the mariners.

Heero subtly tugged his ponytail. He turned and gave a winking smile.

Duo climbed over the railing and jumped on the sailboat _The Sash_. It was going to be his standard means of transportation from the _Amaryllis_ to Herald Trench for the three weeks.

After watching _The Sash_ sail away for a couple of minutes Heero joined the rest of the team down in the control room next to the ship's engines. The room was equipped with some of the finest tracking and sensing electronics, most being one of kind and built from the grounds up by Heero and his team. As soon as he opened sass door the door he was assailed by the beeping sounds of the different radars and controls monitoring Snail as well as the voices of the men checking their readings. The place was bustling with activity. With the tame neon lights overhead, the place really looked like the deck of a submarine.

He joined Captain Jones beside one of the techs monitoring _Snail 2 13_.

"How's it progressing?"

"_The Sash_ arrived at the rendezvous point where our techs and Snail have been waiting and preparing the dive."

"Good."

"Sir," Called another assistant. "Maxwell has just dived and is accompanying_ Snail_ who has just started her descent."

"Roger that. Open a channel to Duo."

"Yes sir."

The assistant busied herself at filtering the static to find a communicating channel. Heero looked at the blank screen in front of the room while she did so.

"How is it that we aren't getting a visual yet?" asked the Captain who had been quiet until then.

Without turning his gaze from the screen, Heero explained.

"We want Snail to be as light as possible and we want it to be able to go as deep as possible." He turned to the Captain. "The only metal capable of withstanding almost indeterminate amount of pressure is gundanium. The Gundams are destroyed and it is forbidden by the Alliance to construct any more. 8000 meters are as deep as_ Snail_ can go, but we need to go deeper, instead of making a lens that would withstand more pressure, I devised another strategy." He looked at the screen again. "Anyhow, a camera of that caliber would take too much place, place we need for the ballast tanks. When Duo reaches the targeted "stair" we'll have visual and you'll see how it works." He showed the beginning of a smile. "Patience."

"Sir we have a contact."

"Good give me a pair of ears."

He clipped the small earpiece and adjusted the mic.

"Testing, 1,2,3. Duo do you hear me?"

"Loud an clear."

"How's it going?"

"Fine, no prob. I'm followin' her, she's goin' straight and smoothly." The whole room was filled with the disembodied voice.

"Roger that, let your channels open. We keep in contact."

"Yep."

Heero signaled the assistant to switch the conversation to private lines. Only she and Heero would hear Duo for now.

"So how does it feel fish-man?" She asked with a tinkle in her voice.

"It's great Sandrine!" Exclaimed Duo.

Heero smiled and lowered the volume of his phones. "Keep speaking to him." He whispered to her.

She nodded and Heero walked away to check the rest of the procedures.

"Coming Captain?"

* * *

_**The**_ sea…was an intriguing entity. Duo thought that maybe that was why he was so attracted to it. He never fully understood it so never got tired of it. It reminded him of space, its filling and dense emptiness.

That was it. That was how it felt for him when he entered the blue womb of silence.

Despite the technological connection with the human world – his COM link- he felt very alone in these depths, it felt empty but at the same time so full it was oppressing. It was a constant challenge to swim forward in the unknown and despite the fact that the sea seamed unmoving almost dead, it was very much alive for every time he dived, insignificant as it might be, something had changed, something had moved.

Duo's scuba suit was as common as it could get. Many people assumed that the most famous diver in this galaxy would be the one with the most high-tech and personalized suit in the business. Well, they were always surprised to find him with a suit that was often simpler and more basic than his students'.

He believed in the _trut__h_ of the job and also tried to embody the reason behind Jean-Jacques Cousteau's creation of the first modern diving suit. He was responding to the need for exploration, the need to feel and try to be part of the ocean, basically the need to become a merman with the help of technology. All the gadgets that were added during the centuries which helped surround the diver with an invisible but impenetrable cocoon did protect from danger, but it also stopped one from feeling the velvet mysterious touch of the ocean.

That was the reason why Duo rejected most _improvements_.

As he followed _Snail_ and explored his surroundings, he was a svelte and graceful creature dressed in sea blue spandex shorts and short sleeve top with black slashes to each side. Swimming in a modified butterfly stroke, feet deprived of palms; he could feel the swish of the currents against his sensitive sols and between his toes, against his long lean legs and arms. His tightly braised hair snaked like a moray eel behind him. The only indications that he didn't belong in this universe were two black square pads attached to his back that made his shoulder blades look swollen. From these pads a thin tube came up the back of his neck and disappeared under his hair, from the side it came out and hooked on his left ear than separated in cannula. Another tube came from the side of the left pad and snaked around his arm to a watch that indicated the depths, pressure and amount of oxygen as well as the time. He also had and earphone attached to his right ear.

A school of flying fish with a bit too much of courage swished around him before disappearing towards the surface. _Snail 2 13_ was descending without any problems and finally arrived at the end of its cable. Sharply looking around Duo found the plateform that could hold the weight of _Snail_. It was a big column of approximately 5 meters wide in diameter at the top, who knew how wide it got at the seemingly bottomless pit of the trench though. However its surface was wide enough for the machine of two meters long and 3 and half meters wide.

"Heero, the plateform is where it should be but I need to bring _Snail_ a bit more to its right for it to land smoothly on it."

Back at the ship, Heero had followed the descent by listening to the small chatter of Sandrine and the sparse responses of Duo. The dives were almost the only times when Duo would be unnaturally quiet. Water seemed to calm his husband greatly.

"Alright, stand by."

Heero motioned for Sandrine to open the public link of the control room.

"_The Sash_, come in," called Heero.

"Yep, listening."

"You'll have to move a bit, the calculations were a little off."

"Okay, ready when you are."

"Duo can you give us a hand?"

"Sure"

Duo swam the short distance to the platform and calculated the distance.

"About, 2, 3 meters; I can't be to sure since I don't have a map."

"That's fine," said a technician from _The Sash_, "we'll move and you give us the cues."

"Right."

Slowly, the submersible moved towards the column. When it came near the rocky wall, Duo discussed degrees and angles. All in all _Snail_ landed fine, with just a little scrape on the paint job.

Before disengaging the cable, Duo went around and opened little hatches that were at the topsides and unraveled two wiry cables from each. He opened another hatch at the back of the device and took out the tools he needed to screw the cables to the rock and started his work.

"Duo, how's it going?"

"Fine…the rock isn't too hard. I'll be finished in two hours max."

The room was filled with the sounds of a screwdriver digging a hole in stone.

An hour and a half later:

"Alright. I securely screwed the four side cables and the two top ones too. 'M ready to disengage cable."

"Okay, Duo. Be careful, you have to get at least two meters away from_ Snail_. The tracking antennas will emerge 10 seconds after the cable is detached…"

"It's okay, Heero, you drilled me enough, I have a ten second start. It's long enough."

"Right. We'll have dead radio for 3 minutes. See you soon."

"Yep. Out."

Down several meters away, Duo had to show a mischievous grin. Heero was worried and he had reason to be. The antennas stretched out fast and anything too close would get run through. They were smooth in essence, almost gelatinous like and harmless when they were fully extended. They and would flow like the long lazy tentacles of a metallic squid, to the dark depths of the pit. But for them to extend without being repelled by the greater density of the water they had to spurt like arrows using the velocity their thin bodies would give them and slash the water like razors.

But Duo was confident he could do it, Heero too for that matter, or else he wouldn't have him down here.

He swam to the cable and put his hand on the hook. He looked around, up, down and carefully felt the motions of the currants, calculating the quickest route away from _Snail._ When he was satisfied he went through the steps in his head.

"Snap, click, swim."

And he snapped the hook.

* * *

**Night** had fallen. The _Amaryllis_ was a crib between two worlds from which boundaries couldn't be distinguished. The purple night sky with its rivers of star and its gigantic full moon merged with the deep blue see reflecting her partner's beauty like a mirror.

Leaning on the rail, Heero admired the view. The view made him think of Duo and he understood why his husband had studied oceanography after the war. It reflected a part of the past the gundam pilots would never be able to let go, their love for space, the awe they had for the hugeness of the universe. Knowledge the people they had fought the war for didn't have. Up there, in space and in the colonies they had been able to sea Earth as a whole. Duo didn't want to forget that. He didn't want to forget that they belonged together but also how the individual was important. The loneliness of space tended to make you think about these things. The sea was probably the same.

He sighed and pushed himself from the rail. He had more work to do. His laptop was calling for him in his room.

He entered the dark room that was silent except for the faint sound of a purr and snore. He had to smile at that.

He couldn't believe how fond of Laiza, Duo was. He brought her everywhere and the only thing the damn ugly cat did was sleep, eat and poop. Heero moreover couldn't believe he had to share his bed with that fur ball.

He took his seat at the desk beside the bed and opening his laptop, started his work on the final testings they would go through tomorrow. Up till now the results had been had been quite positive and Captain Jones had been like a kid before Christmas when he saw _Snail2 13_ at full power. He had to admit, it was pretty impressive, maybe a little more than he'd anticipated?

Thirty minutes after he'd started working a hand crept up his back followed by an arm that curled around his neck. Still concentrated on his work, he lifted a hand and caressed the face that was propped on his shoulder. He got a kiss on the cheek for that.

"Come to bed, babe. It's two in the morning and we need to wake early tomorrow….Nope that'd be later today actually," A little laugh accompanied that remark.

Heero breathed in the scent of his love. It was strange how it had changed from the scent of candy, oil and gunpowder to candy, salt and the summer breeze.

He closed his laptop.

Duo lay on the bed and beckoned for him to come. He wouldn't be asked twice. Heero half draped the young man with his body and rested his head on Duo's chest just above the heartbeat. He had found that he had become dependent of that sound to fall asleep, actually to ground his life. That was one of the reasons he never stayed separated from his husband for too long. He couldn't sleep, then he worked too much and when he worked too much he didn't eat, and it just went down hill after that.

"You haven't slept much these past weeks, hum?"

"…"

"Next time I should go with you, you're just like a kid, always need to be checked on, sheesh!" The snappishness of the remark was totally lost because of the loving way in which it was said.

His husband was gently rubbing his scalp, his neck and his back; combined with the sound of his heart plus the gentle sway of the ship, Heero should've been dead to world already.

Well, he wasn't.

"You're tense. Man, on what have you been living the past week, coffee?"

"Sorry."

Duo sighed. "You have to take better care of yourself lover. I'm definitely goin' with you next time."

Although Duo griped, he knew that they couldn't have done otherwise. The project was very mysterious. He'd been shut out of some meetings and had been given only the information he would need to assist as best he could. Even Heero, who was one of the leading brains wasn't at full disclosure, he suspected.

"Sing?" his husband's grave voice broke the silence.

There was a longer pause and Heero thought that Duo might not want to. Than the room was filled with a smooth tenor. Duo had always loved to sing and had a great voice. It had only gotten greater after puberty.

The rumblings of Duo's voice under one ear and the lullaby going through the other rendered Heero unconscious in seconds.

"Sleep well, luv."

* * *

_**While**_ the crew slept, something else was very much awake and curious about _Snail 2 13_.

The day shift technicians had given up their seats at eleven pm to the few night supervisors. The control room's activity had toned down to the "beeps" acknowledging the successful tracking of _Snail_ and the quiet sound of the machines running.

The five supervisors in a room built for fifteen had grouped together for a game of cards. They had quickly stopped checking the radars and the viewing screen, as it was the procedure to do so every thirty minutes. It was now, four thirty in the morning and the ship would wake up at about six.

Absorbed into their card game, they didn't notice how the readings were going haywire while suspiciously nothing showed up on the screen.

Suddenly an internal alarm sounded. In seconds they were all at their stations to find out that one of _Snail_'s cables was loose.

Heero was having a very good dream about his and Duo's recent summer vacation on Earth.

On a whim, which was very rare for Heero, he had decided an afternoon to pack and book a flight for Duo and he to Greece.

Duo's schedule was very flexible and they weren't in any need of money, really, even after giving all their war savings to charities (which interestingly amounted to a sum almost the third of Quatre's immediate fortune) as Duo insisted.

The beginnings of their life in time of peace had been kind of rough but they never regretted it. They had never felt more human and normal than during those days. They had nothing to distinguish them from other young struggling couples on the brink of poverty, trying to make a living and carve a place for themselves in the world. Duo had joked during these times that they were like the couple in _Love Story_, working and studying at the same time, eating at their friends place in exchange of small odd jobs, etc.

Eventually they had succeeded in attaining a very comfortable life, were they needn't work for a living really, although they did enjoy the challenge.

Anyhow, due to Duo's very flexible timetable and probably due to the fact that Heero was going to be absent for two weeks after their return, they had welcomed the trip.

Why the Mediterranean? Heero would never know but Duo had been hooked. They had spent a whole month bathing in the sea, the sun, the sand and in each other.

Heero sighed and shifted as an image of Duo skinny-dipping in afternoon sun came to view. The arms around him automatically tightened. He rubbed his head on his living pillow absolutely prepared to enter the wet dream that image was surely going to bring, when there was an insistent knock on their door.

* * *

_**Just**_ how rude could these techs get!

In the control room that was now buzzing with activity stood a very grumpy Heero in boxers and t-shirt and a sleepwalking Duo with apocalyptic hair in boxers and a wife-beater.

A panicky technician had awoken them to share the recent update. _Snail_ was going haywire, a presence was detected but the big screen couldn't pick it up which was really weird because according to the radars it was huge. Furthermore, there was that broken cable that was giving problems. It was swaying with the strong currents and it came dangerously near the extended antennas. It was the width of a young tree trunk; it could do quite a bit of damage.

Heero gently tapped his husband's cheek.

"Duo, wake up. I have to move."

Eyes still closed, Duo pushed himself from his leaning position on Heero's shoulder. Heero took his hand and guided him to one of the computer terminals where he sat him down and gently laid his head on the desk.

Sitting in the chair next to his prone lover, he started working on the computers linked to the defective screen.

"Sir?"

"Hum?"

The whole room went almost silent as one of the techs asked for Heero's attention. From experience, they knew that they had to tip toe around the shaggy haired man when he was grumpy.

"We'll need somebody to go down, sir, for the cable."

Heero frowned and everybody tensed up. Beside him Duo stirred and yawned hugely.

"It's okay, gimme ten and I'll be ready," he slurred as he sleepily rubbed Heero's shoulder blade.

Heero death-glared the poor man standing very erect and awaiting for doom.

"Prepare _The Sash_. Sandrine, you take my place. I'm going too, we'll relay."

After a quick freezing shower and getting whipped by the ocean winds trying their darnedest to undo his hair, Duo was finally fully awake.

Again Heero helped him zip up his wetsuit and snap on the oxygen. The only difference was that his hands seemed to linger with his every touch.

"Hey stop being a worrywart! It's going to be fine. I've dived countless times during the night."

"Yes. But there is a storm brewing and there is this unknown thing near _Snail_. Maybe…"

"Hey, hey. If I don't go the experiment'll be aborted prematurely. That's not good. And you and I both know that I've been through worse." Duo grinned, turning to face Heero, his braid whipping in the wind, bangs swaying over his eyes.

Heero snatched the braid and gently tugged bringing their face so close their nose touched.

"I don't care," he fiercely whispered.

Duo's grin softened and he pecked Heero on the nose.

"That's why I love you."

Duo than walked away to the side of the sailboat to sit on the edge and positioned himself for the flip.

"Ready?"

"Ready when you are," acknowledged one of the techs on board with them.

"Well then, see ya in a few," and he winked at Heero before diving in and disappearing in the inky black waters.

He opened the flashlight at his wrist and made his way to _Snail_. The lazy pace he had adopted the day before, he didn't use now. Despite his carefree reassurances to Heero, something didn't feel quite right but against his better judgment he had decided to dive because deep down he was dying to know what was that thing the machines had detected. That didn't mean he was careless and he knew that he needed to be out in about twenty minutes max, for the storm was coming fast. So he kicked more vigorously. He needed to repair the cable too. He had no time too wallow.

Soon the gelatin tentacles came to view. It was quite amazing the image _Snail_ gave. It looked like a gigantic blinking dandelion fuzz. Every tentacle had thousands of little sensors sprouting out with cameras at their tips. Individually the image would be poor but the sheer number of the minuscule devices translated into an algorithm that sent a starting high definition scan and image to the computers in_ Amaryllis_.

Duo swan around and between them with ease. The techs were suddenly introduced to the image of the professional at work, on big screen. The room silenced in awe, it was really beautiful to see him swim expertly between the lighted arms of the "beast" and they doubly understood why Duo was known as one of the best of the galaxy, but also why Heero cherished him so much.

Seeming to guess what was happening, Duo turned to the screen and pulled out his tongue with emphasis. Startled, the whole room burst out laughing, immediately the tense atmosphere lightened up and they received a thumb up from the Fish-man.

Even thought, he would have liked to contemplate Heero's_ child_ a bit longer (hey that was a great nickname, he would have to share it with his husband) he had some work to do. So he quickly dove and stopped some meters above the snapping cable. Getting hit by the tentacles was nothing. They were designed to be soft and safe. They had no intention of killing the wild life that was curious about _Snail_; no they actually wanted it to approach the giant sea urchin. But the cable was another thing. It had been designed to withstand biting from sharks. It was pretty solid and heavy and if it hit him…well, it was just as well, that it didn't.

So timing the sway, the direction of the currants, Duo calculated he had close to a minute to get in position near the base of the wire. He would wait for it to come to him and let it push him a little bit on the way, stopping its motion with his body weight and pushing against it. Than it was all question of screwing it to the rocky colum again.

Seeing his opportunity, Duo dove, positioned himself and caught the cable on it way, in sixty seconds. But he wasn't ready for what he saw. The cable had been gnawed on! What animal could have teeth that strong?

A swishing sound caught his attention. He only had the time to see it coming before another cable whipped him full force.

Heero frowned, something was scrambling his readings, and the laptop seamed dead. Below deck, where most of the night shift crew was deck, the radio screeched white noise and made them wince, as rain began to pour.

"Heero?"

"Yes, Sandrine."

"We have a problem. Half of our radars are down and it seems like another cable just gave out. We also can't contact Duo. His COM is dead."

* * *

_**Now**_, why oh why was he so adventurous?

Why couldn't he peacefully stay in the safe and warm sleep of unconsciousness? Because of Heero, that's why. He couldn't sleep forever and not see him. But now that he was close to wakefulness, he was seriously thinking of screwing this all and going back to sleep. He was in so much pain!

"Duo? Duo, can you hear me?"

_Crap!_

He couldn't not wake up now, even though nobody could notice, it was blatantly clear to him the Heero was scared shitless.

He opened an eye and closed it again immediately.

"Light," he croaked.

He heard some shuffling and the hand that was gripping his relaxed its hold.

"You can open your eyes, now."

He did as told and was greeted to the infirmary ceiling of the _Amaryllis._ He blinked and looked at Heero sitting on the bedside, worry written all over his face.

"'Mmokay…in pain, but okay," he tried to grin but it turned into a grimace as pain shot through his head and he squeezed his eyes shut, at the same time he _pleasantly_ discovered that his chest was killing him.

A cool hand came on his right cheek.

"Don't move too much. The cable really got you good."

_Cable?_

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"Uhmm… I was grabbing the cable and then, and then….uhmmm.."

"The second cable came at you…"

"Oh yeah! Right, I remember now."

Duo opened his eyes again to look at Heero. His husband's eyes were suspiciously gleaming in the dark room.

"God, I thought I was going I'd lost you when you resurfaced face down. You weren't moving and when the rescue team pulled you out…there was so much blood…"

The Japanese man took a deep breath.

"The wire got you on the left side of the head, from the crown to jaw bone. You almost lost your ear as it is it cracked your jaw and cranium. It could have snapped your head off," He whispered as he traced the gauze bands that were covering half of Duo's face and his whole chest.

Heero could still feel the horror of the whole crew as they saw the big gash and flapping skin being pulled down by soppy hair. It looked like he had been half scalped. But it had been nothing compared to what they saw when they inspected Duo more carefully. His spandex shirt was gone and there was a 5-inch deep gash, the width of an arm, from his left shoulder to his right hip. The impact had been strong enough for Duo to sustain multiple fractures in the left lob of his skull. His sternum had cracked in two, his right kidney was bruised; he had 3 cracked ribs and a dislocated arm.

"I don't know how you managed. It must have been reflexes that you turned your head in time, but miraculously it didn't hit your neck. It took you square in the chest instead."

It could have pulverized his heart, as it was the organ had stopped 3 times before they could have him stabilized. Heero's hand was shaking.

"Come, lie down beside me…It's okay, babe, I'm fine."

Heero lied as close as he could without hurting Duo and brought the hand he was holding to his face.

"No, it's not okay. I almost lost you. For the first time in two years."

Duo felt a hot tear slide on his fingers.

* * *

_**The **_saline wind came in soft puffs in the hot summer mid-day.

A young man was leaning heavily on the rail of the floating deck, gazing towards the golden satellite of L6. It was in the direction where they had left _Snail 2 13_ and the mystery that had come with it. He frowned and passed his hand on his hair. He scrunched up his nose, **on** not _in_. That was kind of weird. Never before in his life had he had short hair. It wasn't brush cut short though and he had to be grateful for this. It resembled his husband's shaggy do, but less full. They hadn't cut the hair at the nape of his neck razor short, thank God he could still feel it brush his nape. As soon as he was strong enough, Relena had sent her private hairdresser to his hospital room. His overall look was a bit rock and roll but part of his head was shaved and one side was shorter than the other. The hair dresser had followed part of the sutured gash to create a shaved tribal design on one side and had cut the hair in irregular lengths on the other side. He looked emo, but it could have been worse, he repeated to himself.

He sighed and brought a longer chocolate tress in front of his face to twirl around his fingers.

The wounds were healing fine, tanning even, but he would have to live the scars despite his fast healing. He traced the tender skin of his temple with his index.

He didn't mind the scars, he thought as he looked up at the seagulls, but the hair, now he hadn't taken it well. He had cried two days straight with Heero _fretting_ over him all the time.

But now, he had to admit that it was nice to feel the wind on his scalp and let the sun shine where it had never shone before.

A cool hand ruffled his hair.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not bad."

He turned to face Heero.

"Can you help me to the long chair?"

Heero picked him up.

"Hey! Put me down! I can walk!"

"You're out of breath."

The impact of the cable had scrambled his heart's rhythm and after three weeks, the arrhythmia was still annoying despite the medication he was on. Duo had to be carried everywhere and had to spend most of the days bedridden, he was tiring so fast.

Heero lay him down and joined him. He circled Duo's waist, careful not to put weight on his chest.

Duo lazily caressed his lover's forearm.

"So what happens now?"

"The project is suspended until further notice. Still, we somewhat achieved our goal. We do have evidence of a life a new life form indigenous to L6. If further studies are conclusive that beast would be the first recorded mammal indigenous to a man made colony. It would be an even greater discovery if we could prove its evolution far enough from any known water mammal to be given its own class." Heero shifted a bit. "The radars of _Snail_ are fine. We have to work on the cameras. Leaving _Snail_ down there isn't a problem. It's built for long hauls in the ocean and worse comes, we can always rebuild one, a better one. But, I'll leave part two of that mystery to the research team for now."

He paused.

"My program works fine I just have to reconfigure the cameras and I can do that as a freelance. No need for me to be there."

Duo took a minute to wonder what exactly could have gnawed through those wires and not be seen by the cameras. He would have really liked to work on that mystery, a knew life form, how cool was that! But he quickly let that thought go, he wouldn't be diving for a while and he was just too tired to think about complicated stuff.

He felt really comfortable on their little boathouse, anchored close to the docks where he had left Laiza sleeping in his crummy office. He felt it sway and lull him to sleep; combined with the warmth of Heero's body, he didn't stand a chance.

"Heero?" he slurred.

"Hmm…" was the sleepy response.

"I'd like to go back to Greece."

Heero shifted and looked at him.

"You shouldn't be traveling now, Duo."

"No, it's not just for traveling."

"Oh, you're serious?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it. I'd be nice to have a permanent home. I...it doesn't bother you?"

"It will be one early Christmas present."

Duo chuckled.

"Man, you must be really tired if you follow my every wishes."

"Duo, I always follow your every wishes."

"…Yeah, but usually, I have to work harder for it."

Heero snorted.

"Sleep, Duo. You're tired."

"'Kay."

He closed his eyes and dreamed of the same evening, but on another satellite of the Milky Way, on another sea, the Mediterranean.

Earth.

It had been a long time since he'd seen and felt the rays of the real sun.

* * *

End


End file.
